MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING December 17, 2013 The regular monthly meeting of the Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees was held Tuesday, December 17, 2013 at the Downtown Library. Present were: MEMBERS COUNCIL LIASON LIBRARY DIRECTOR Ms. Janice Marich Mr. Jim Kershner Mr. Nathan Smith Ms. Anne Walter Mr. Jack Fallis Mr. Ben Stuckart Mr. Andrew Chanse CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 4:30 p.m. VISITORS Charles Hansen, EWGS CHANGES TO THE AGENDA The Library Foundation report was moved up to before the Director s report since Foundation Director Sarah Bain needed to leave early. APPROVAL OF OCTOBER, 2013 MEETING MINUTES Mr. Kershner moved to approve the minutes of the October 15, 2013 Board meeting. Mr. Fallis seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. APPROVAL OF BILLS AND CONTRIBUTIONS FOR OCTOBER & NOVEMBER 2013 Mr. Kershner moved to approve payment of the bills for October 2013 in the amount of $710,757.58, voucher sequence #40495-40762. Mr. Smith seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. Mr. Kershner moved to approve payment of the bills for November 2013 in the amount of $827,403.19, voucher sequence #40763-40956. Ms. Walter seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. FINANCIAL REPORT Mr. Chanse reported everything is on target. PERFORMANCE REPORT Mr. Chanse reported that there has been a nice increase in checkouts and that the downloadable items have seen a triple-digit increase in checkouts. He said this is a great way to end this year.
Minutes of Board of Trustees Meeting, December 17, 2013 Page 2 CHAIRMAN S REPORT None. FOUNDATION REPORT Sarah Bain handed out her report (attached) and reviewed the contents with the board. She said she would like to have a goal of $250k in grant income for the next year (last year brought in only about $10k). She reported that the Ultimate Book Club was a success despite her taking it over just two weeks before it happened and thanked Anne and Jess Walter for their gracious hosting. Anne noted that the real star of the evening was chef Adam Hegsted. Sarah also noted the success of the internal United Way campaign and the designated donations to the Foundation. LIBRARY DIRECTOR S REPORT December 17, 2013 Community/Professional Contacts Highlights included: I attended the National League of Cities Conference in Seattle and the Library Director s Summit in Chicago. The summit in Chicago was particularly interesting because there was a lot of discussion about measuring the impact of the library and getting away from measuring outputs. I've taken part in two meetings as part of the Mayor's Task Force on Urban Concerns. The goal of the task force aligns well with that of our efforts in Community Court and I think the library could have a significant role in creating a more positive experience downtown. I also attended the WLA Legislative Planning meeting on December 13 in Federal Way. Sally and Eva both attended a three day workshop in D.C. at the end of October on the Harwood method. Over the course of the next year, we will be using this method to engage with the community and refine our role within it. Rob Roose presented at the WALE Conference in October on the Readers First initiative and ALA efforts to improve the ebook experience for libraries and customers. Budget The City Council passed the 2014 budget on November 23 rd. I made my budget presentation to City Council on November 11. The only question asked was whether or not we would have funding to continue our contract with WorkSource for 2014. As mentioned in prior budget discussions, this is a relationship that will continue in 2014. No surprises for the library and we should be in good shape for 2014. Programs Microsoft IT Academy kicked off at the Downtown Library on November 13 th. By all accounts, the event was successful and well attended. 65 users have registered for the IT Academy and 532 topics were completed during the month of November Community Court held their inaugural session on December 9 th.
Minutes of Board of Trustees Meeting, December 17, 2013 Page 3 The system-wide black Friday drop-in craft was popular with customers. We are doing some exciting things in January at ES, HY, & IT. Each branch will host a concert to celebrate having longer hours on Jan 7. Later in the month, those 3 branches will host a presentation from Mobius for children and families, as well as a Zen Tangle class. We are excited to add a weekly building program at each branch in 2014! Starting in January each branch will be putting out an assortment of building toys one day per week. We will be pairing simple building toys with more complicated ones and they will be moving from branch to branch to keep things fresh. We are targeting elementary school students and will be building towers, marble runs, and what ever participant s imaginations can come up with. This program is part of our ongoing commitment to providing informal STEM learning experiences for our younger library customers. Friends of the Library The Friends of the Library purchased poinsettias for each branch and we are grateful to them for this donation. The Early Literacy Stations donated by the Friends arrived in late November. We are looking forward to rolling these out to the branches in January. Facilities Not a facility, but...outreach Services works out of their van and the lift they use to get books in and out of the van has become problematic. We will be replacing the lift with a more durable lift to better accommodate the need and level of service. No update on activity for the Nevada property. The real estate market continues to show favorability to sites with buildings already built. Staffing We are set for staffing for the new hours for 2014 at Indian Trail, Hillyard, and East Side. All of the performance appraisals for management and professional staff have been completed and there is an item on the December Board agenda to approve merit pay increases. City of Spokane I attended the Mayor s Strategic Planning meeting in early November. The Mayor would like to have a strategic plan in place for each department for a January rollout. Strategic Planning December 5 th and 6 th officially kicked off a new stage of our planning process for the library. The two days were not only spent looking at some really interesting data about who our library serves and where we have some great opportunities to serve the public to a greater impact, but also how to apply the data to the needs of the community. Much of the time was spent developing strategic concepts around specific market opportunities around targeted market opportunities and developing/brainstorming strategies to address them. The SPL Foundation was included in this process because it presented a great opportunity to fast-track Sarah through some of the issues libraries face on both a local and national level and to better align the Foundation with the future efforts of the library. A draft of strategic directions and goals will be presented as an agenda item at the December meeting for consideration of adoption by the board. Specific action plans and initiatives will be shared as we move further into the process.
Minutes of Board of Trustees Meeting, December 17, 2013 Page 4 Respectfully submitted, Andrew Chanse Director Additional Information The board asked about Harwood and Sally and Eva gave a summary of the training and what we ve been doing since then. Ms. Marich noted that United Way is involved with the Harwood Institute and she s led many community conversations with this method. The Community Court project was also discussed and the board had questions about that. Ms. Silverstone and Mr. Chanse said that the library would be publicizing the project in the new year. Mr. Chanse discussed the Legislative Planning meeting and the possibility of the Municipal Library district. At this point Seattle and KCLS expressed interest but it was suggested that the effort be led by local government and not the libraries. Mr. Chanse also discussed the Mayor s cabinet retreat and system wide strategic plan and the work that the library is doing to contribute. COMMUNICATIONS Ms. Silverstone reported that she is focused on the expanded hours and would like to get press on that. She noted that Tuesday, January 7 is an open house at East Side, Indian Trail and Hillyard and there will be invitations that go out for those events. UNFINISHED BUSINESS There was no unfinished business. NEW BUSINESS 14a. Security Contract Mr. Smith moved to approve the security contract, and Mr. Kershner seconded. The motion carried. 14b. New Year s Eve Early Closure Mr. Smith moved to approve revised schedule for New Year s Eve and Mr. Kershner seconded. The motion carried. 14c. M&P Range Adjustment Ms. Fox explained the change to a merit based system for M&P employees took place in 2005. She explained that the merit increases replace both step and cola increases. M& P employees don t get cola increases. Mr. Fallis moved to approve the range adjustment as presented and Mr. Smith seconded. The motion carried unanimously. 14d. Merit Increase Fund Allocation
Minutes of Board of Trustees Meeting, December 17, 2013 Page 5 Mr. Smith moved to approve the range adjustment as presented and Mr. Fallis seconded. The motion carried unanimously. 14e. Insurance Contract Mr. Chanse reported that he met with our broker and wasn t happy with the offer that Chubb presented which included a 5% increase. He asked that the broker look at other companies and Philadelphia came in $8,000 below Chubb. It is the same coverage but with some additional benefits. Our broker said the company is comparable in ratings to Chubb. Mr. Kershner moved to approve Insurance contract and Mr. Smith seconded. The motion carried. 14f. 2014 Library Budget Mr. Chanse presented the 2014 Library Budget and said that everything was accurate as presented and that the revenue reflects the increases from the levy. He explained some of the changes to the staffing that are listed. The budget shows a surplus of about $250,000. Board members asked that we consider putting some of this into our capital improvements fund which now stands at $435,000 but will be reduced by $200,000 for the new computers that the board already approved. Mr. Kershner moved to approve the 2014 budget as presented and Mr. Smith seconded. The motion carried unanimously. 14g. Preliminary objectives for Strategic Plan Mr. Chanse presented the preliminary objectives and goals and explained each of them. He also stated that he s looking at a five year plan because he says there is a danger in tying our planning to the levy funding duration. He said that the nature of what we do doesn t really change when funding changes so the goals and objectives will work regardless. Mr. Chanse also explained the process used to get to these directions. Ms. Walter complimented the library on these directions, saying that they are really exciting and forward thinking. Ms. Marich concurred saying that she appreciated that they focus on the community and how we impact lives with our service. Mr. Kershner moved to approve the preliminary objectives and Mr. Fallis seconded. The motion carried unanimously. Mr. Chanse said he hoped to return to the board next month with a fleshed out plan. ADDITIONAL ITEMS/CHANGES TO THE AGENDA Item number 14h was moved to after the executive session. PUBLIC COMMENT There was no public comment. NEXT REGULAR MEETING Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Minutes of Board of Trustees Meeting, December 17, 2013 Page 6 EXECUTIVE SESSION The board adjourned to executive session at 5:37 pm for a period of 10 minutes. The purpose of the executive session was personnel, to do the Library Director s performance appraisal. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was recalled to order following the executive session at 5:47 p.m. At that time New Business Item number 14h was entertained. NEW BUSINESS CONTINUED 14h. Director s Compensation Following the executive session a motion was made by Mr. Kershner to give the director a $1,000 one-time merit bonus and leave his pay rate at the entry level of his pay scale. Ms. Walter seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned at 5:51. Secretary Chairman, Board of Trustees Date